Making Rocking Chairs
I have been making rocking chairs since 1993. I am not a person that keeps track of time very well. It is not dementia, I was born that way, I have heard from many sources that "Time is an illusion" and it is easy for me to believe. I have dedicated my life, since I started making rocking chairs, to the perfection of their beauty and comfort.  I will not quibble if you believe another's rocker is  more beautiful than mine, I might agree with you - BUT - NOBODY makes a more comfortable rocking chair.  I have, over the years, perfected flexible back braces, the curved vertical grain headrest and achieving the perfect rocker radius. Within a year of making rockers full time I realized flexible back braces were the ticket! All of my students use my flexible back brace system and others who have learned from me now claim to have invented them (remember time is an illusion).

I cut more pieces of wood for my back braces than most people use in four or five completed rocking chairs!  In order to make a set for one chair I cut 72 separate pieces of wood - Each back brace has four full length laminations and there are five precisely tapered wedge shaped pieces of wood which, when incorporated, make the back brace stiffness distinctly non linear, providing flex where they should flex and superior strength where they need to be strong. Check out the section on "Comfort" to learn more.
On the underside of the seat I write quite a lot:
  • This chair has been made especially for ______ by Hal Taylor
  • The chair name
  • The chair number (approaching 400 now)
  • I usually write a quote or poem that I like or the new owner requests

If you have questions feel free to drop me a note.